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Douglas Carswell was once the golden boy of Ukip: its first elected MP, its brightest intellect, its shot at respectability. Now he has left the party to sit as an independent in the Commons. In hindsight, his resignation was inevitable from the very beginning. His alliance with Ukip was a relationship of convenience – and it very quickly became inconvenient to both parties.

If there was a golden age of Ukip it was the year 2014. Under the leadership of Nigel Farage, Ukip was evolving from a one-issue protest movement to a serious party with a populist agenda on everything from the environment to immigration. The strategy was to outflank the Tories on the Right – and it was working. On May 22,...